Abstract:
We report the results of a study analyzing
the proportion of theoretical and empirical
articles in two core health economics journals.
The Journal of Health Economics published
30% theory during the period
1982-1986, but by 1997-2001 the proportion
had risen to 40% theory. Health Economics
published 38% theory during
1992-1996, but the proportion fell to 32%
theory during 1997-2001.ln both journals
articles were more likely to be published by
men (78%), and published women were
50% less likely to publish theory than were
men. Articles were more likely to be published
by United States authors (54%), but
United States authors were less likely to publish
theory than authors from other countries.
Compared to other disciplines, health
economics published a higher proportion of
theory than sociology, chemistry, and physics
but less than economics and political science.
